No Sweat! Was Prince Andrew A Falklands W4r Hero?
The interview which effectively led to the downfall of the then Prince Andrew was that which he recorded for BBC News night in 2019. One particular segment generated widespread incredul around the world. The bit about Virginia Guprey saying he sweated heavily and him denying he even sweated at all.
If you recall, Andrew was fumbling his way into an excuse concerning this accusation and made the remark that he hadn’t sweated since suffering an overdose of adrenaline during the 1982 Falklands W4r when he said he was sh0t at. I decided to examine this claim by looking at Andrew’s service in the Falklands.
Was he indeed sh0t at, and did he indeed suffer what could be described as of an overdose of adrenaline? After all, he returned from that conflict at the age of 22, lorded as a hero, and in many ways it was the high point of his life before beginning his 40 plus year descent into alleged criminality, and it appears from press reports even alleged high treason.
Service in the Royal Navy has long been a tradition for British princes. For example, Andrew’s father, Prince Philillip of Greece and Denmark, had served throughout World W4r II as a naval officer, and he had seen action during the b4ttle of Cape Matapan in 1941 aboard the b4ttleship HMS Valiant, receiving a mention in dispatches.
Later he was first left tenant aboard the destr0yer HMS Wallace during the invasion of Sicily and under intense @ttack by German aircraft in 1945. Prince Philillip was present in Tokyo Bay aboard the destr0yer HMS Welp witnessing the Japanese surrender. Andrew’s older brother, Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales, served in the Royal Navy for 5 years, serving initially on the destr0yer HMS Norfolk in 1971 72 and then the frigots HMS Manurva in 1972 to73 and HMS Jupiter in 1974.
That year he also qualified as a naval helicopter pilot serving an 845 naval air squadron aboard the carrier HMS Hermes. He then spent 10 months commanding the coastal mine h.unter HMS Bronington. From the moment a captain joins his new ship, he starts getting to know his new crew. Well, they have to start getting to know each other.
The then Prince Andrew joined the Royal Navy in 1979, training as a naval helicopter pilot and signing on for 12 years service. At this time, Andrew also completed the Royal Marines Allarms Commando course, earning the Green Beret. Commissioned as a subleutenant in September 1981, he had just completed his helicopter training before the Falklands W4r broke out.
Andrew joined number 82 Naval Air Squadron as a Sea King co pilot aboard the carrier HMS Invincible. On the 2nd of April 1982, Argentina had invaded the British overseas territories of the Falkland Islands and South Georgia. By this time, Britain only had two operational aircraft carriers, Invincible and Hermes, and both would be required to join the huge task force a.ssembled on the orders of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher to steam 8,000 mi south and recapture those islands.
Andrew, however, presented a problem for the Navy and the government. Today, Andrew is eighth in line to the throne, but in 1982, he was second after his brother, the Prince of Wales. The authorities were very nervous of placing Andrew in ha.rm’s way in what could become a major shooting w4r due to his position and status, and attempts were made to give him a desk job for the duration of the conflict.
Andrew, however, was determined to go with his squadron and made representations to his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, and the queen insisted that her son remain with his ship. So it was that Andrew was just one of many air crew steaming south on the carriers, a point made by multiple Fulklands w4r veterans regarding the task force, who all say there were no pa.ssengers in the Falklands.
as far as can be ascertained via official reports and of course the memories of those who served alongside him. Andrew performed well and indeed one of the Falkland W4r’s top British Sea Harrier aces, Commander Nigel Sharky W4rd, described Andrew as an excellent pilot and a very promising officer. Moving on to his actual duties in the w4r and his periods in action.
Andrew’s role as a sea king pilot was often to act as a missile decoy against Argentine exoets that were much feared by the task force. The sea king would hover close to the ship it was protecting and radar on the French made exoet missile could not resolve targets between the ship and the helicopter.
They appearing to the missile as a single target. If the helicopter was not too high, the missile guidance system would aim for the center of its apparent target, and the British hoped that the missile would pa.ss between the ship and the helicopter. These missions were flown in relays 24 hours a day in an attempt to protect ships of the task force, and Andrew and other crews would fly 4 hour sorties in this manner.
The destruction of the destr0yer HMS Sheffield by one such air launched exoet on the 4th of May 1982 was witnessed by Prince Andrew who was airborne in his sea king at the time who commented later for the first 10 minutes after the Sheffield I think when one really didn’t know which way to turn or what to do.
I know where I was and I was very frightened then. Sheffield was the first Royal Navy vessel sunk in action since World W4r II with 20 de@d and up to 63 injured among her crew. The Sea King H5s of number 82 Naval Air Squadron performed many tasks from the Faulland’s w4r, including the aforementioned Exoet missile decoy, also including casualty evacuation, transport, anti ubmarine w4rfare duties, search and rescue, and so on.
And in 166 days at sea, the squadron chocked up 4,700 hours airborne, setting a world record for continuous carrier operations. Prince Andrew had a close shave during operations to rescue men from the cargo ship Atlantic Conveyor, which was carrying RAF and Royal Navy helicopters south to reinforce the task force when it was hit and destr0yed by two Argentine exet missiles on the 25th of May 1982.
The same day that the destr0yer HMS Coventry was sunk by b0mbs dropped by Argentine aircraft. Prince Andrew and his crew were airborne and witnessed the missile strikes and the huge explosions that flung debris up to a quarter of a mile from the wreck. A British 4.5 in sh3ll narrowly avoided striking Andrew’s Sea King helicopter in the cha0s and confusion of Argentine air @ttacks.
I remember looking out over my right side going, I’m not going to say anything about this, but I could see that coming tow4rds me because I don’t want to worry them. And I remember turning the aircraft thinking, I wonder if this is going to make any difference if I turn the aircraft. I remember turning the aircraft to the left and when I saw the the the the the glow of light coming tow4rds me, which I a.ssumed was was the heat.
Well, I don’t know. I just saw this sort of orange light coming tow4rds me. I suppose that um that was the one moment when I got my I’ve got my lifetime’s worth of adrenaline rush there and it gave me a white gave me gave me a nasty little white fleck in the side of the side of the of um which only when I cut my hair can you see it.
The only way I can describe it is that if you’ve perhaps made a rather more risky overtake in a car than you would sometimes wish and you get that sort of hot flush well double that add 10 and then do it again. That’s how hot and sweaty it became inside my um immersion suit at that particular moment. But having got away, that was the sort of feeling I had.
That was a sort of, you know, my god that was a bit risky. Andrew’s helicopter is listed as being the second helicopter in some sources to have arrived at the scene. The first being a Wessix, which was originally on board the ship and had flown away on another mission and returned immediately to help. Andrew and his crew began winching aboard surv1vors from the water.
All of this activity was going on as active Argentine air @ttacks continued and other vessels in the task force had already been hit or damaged. Andrew rescued many of the 139 surv1vors of the Atlantic conveyor with 10 of the crew perishing in the inferno. More action followed for Andrew and his crew during another horrific air @ttack on British ships, the disaster at Bluff Cove, where Argentine jets caught two British landing ships that were packed with members of the first battalion, the Welsh Guards.
On the 8th of June 1982, Argentine A4 Skyhawks hit the ships RFA Seagalahad and Sir Tristram. Sagalahad was struck by three 500 lb b0mbs. The explosions and fires k1lling 48 men, including 32 members of the Welsh guards, with dozens seriously burned or injured. Two b0mbs also hit the catristram, k1lling two sailors.
Andrew’s helicopter was one of those helping to rescue surv1vors from the Saggalahad as every available helicopter was immediately rushed to the site and either winchmen to safety or use the rotors downdraft to help push life rafts away from the burning and exploding ship. Andrew returned from the Falklands W4r as a very highprofile serviceman, lorded by the press for having done his duty and done it well under very difficult circumstances.
and he was aw4rded along with 35,000 others who served in the Falklands W4r, the South Atlantic Medal 1982. He remained in the Royal Navy until 2001 when he retired as a senior naval pilot with the rank of commander and was later given the honorary service rank of Vice Admiral in 2015.
However, he has retained his Faulland’s W4r campaign medal despite having all of his other titles and orders of chivalry and so on removed. His Faulland’s w4r service has never been criticized, and he is seen by veterans groups to have done his duty, and I would argue it was the high point of his life. He returned a 22 year old hero, then spent the next four decades on an ignaminious path to eventual complete disgrace and perhaps even pr1son time, bringing dishonor on the royal family and also the country that he served
honorably and some would say bravely during the Faulland’s w4r. Many thanks for watching. Please subscribe and share and also visit my audio book channel, W4r Stories with Mark Felton. You can also help to support both of my channels at PayPal and Patreon. Details in the descr.i.ption box below.
The interview which effectively led to the downfall of the then Prince Andrew was that which he recorded for BBC News night in 2019. One particular segment generated widespread incredul around the world. The bit about Virginia Guprey saying he sweated heavily and him denying he even sweated at all.
If you recall, Andrew was fumbling his way into an excuse concerning this accusation and made the remark that he hadn’t sweated since suffering an overdose of adrenaline during the 1982 Falklands W4r when he said he was sh0t at. I decided to examine this claim by looking at Andrew’s service in the Falklands.
Was he indeed sh0t at, and did he indeed suffer what could be described as of an overdose of adrenaline? After all, he returned from that conflict at the age of 22, lorded as a hero, and in many ways it was the high point of his life before beginning his 40 plus year descent into alleged criminality, and it appears from press reports even alleged high treason.
Service in the Royal Navy has long been a tradition for British princes. For example, Andrew’s father, Prince Philillip of Greece and Denmark, had served throughout World W4r II as a naval officer, and he had seen action during the b4ttle of Cape Matapan in 1941 aboard the b4ttleship HMS Valiant, receiving a mention in dispatches.
Later he was first left tenant aboard the destr0yer HMS Wallace during the invasion of Sicily and under intense @ttack by German aircraft in 1945. Prince Philillip was present in Tokyo Bay aboard the destr0yer HMS Welp witnessing the Japanese surrender. Andrew’s older brother, Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales, served in the Royal Navy for 5 years, serving initially on the destr0yer HMS Norfolk in 1971 72 and then the frigots HMS Manurva in 1972 to73 and HMS Jupiter in 1974.
That year he also qualified as a naval helicopter pilot serving an 845 naval air squadron aboard the carrier HMS Hermes. He then spent 10 months commanding the coastal mine h.unter HMS Bronington. From the moment a captain joins his new ship, he starts getting to know his new crew. Well, they have to start getting to know each other.
The then Prince Andrew joined the Royal Navy in 1979, training as a naval helicopter pilot and signing on for 12 years service. At this time, Andrew also completed the Royal Marines Allarms Commando course, earning the Green Beret. Commissioned as a subleutenant in September 1981, he had just completed his helicopter training before the Falklands W4r broke out.
Andrew joined number 82 Naval Air Squadron as a Sea King co pilot aboard the carrier HMS Invincible. On the 2nd of April 1982, Argentina had invaded the British overseas territories of the Falkland Islands and South Georgia. By this time, Britain only had two operational aircraft carriers, Invincible and Hermes, and both would be required to join the huge task force a.ssembled on the orders of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher to steam 8,000 mi south and recapture those islands.
Andrew, however, presented a problem for the Navy and the government. Today, Andrew is eighth in line to the throne, but in 1982, he was second after his brother, the Prince of Wales. The authorities were very nervous of placing Andrew in ha.rm’s way in what could become a major shooting w4r due to his position and status, and attempts were made to give him a desk job for the duration of the conflict.
Andrew, however, was determined to go with his squadron and made representations to his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, and the queen insisted that her son remain with his ship. So it was that Andrew was just one of many air crew steaming south on the carriers, a point made by multiple Fulklands w4r veterans regarding the task force, who all say there were no pa.ssengers in the Falklands.
as far as can be ascertained via official reports and of course the memories of those who served alongside him. Andrew performed well and indeed one of the Falkland W4r’s top British Sea Harrier aces, Commander Nigel Sharky W4rd, described Andrew as an excellent pilot and a very promising officer. Moving on to his actual duties in the w4r and his periods in action.
Andrew’s role as a sea king pilot was often to act as a missile decoy against Argentine exoets that were much feared by the task force. The sea king would hover close to the ship it was protecting and radar on the French made exoet missile could not resolve targets between the ship and the helicopter.
They appearing to the missile as a single target. If the helicopter was not too high, the missile guidance system would aim for the center of its apparent target, and the British hoped that the missile would pa.ss between the ship and the helicopter. These missions were flown in relays 24 hours a day in an attempt to protect ships of the task force, and Andrew and other crews would fly 4 hour sorties in this manner.
The destruction of the destr0yer HMS Sheffield by one such air launched exoet on the 4th of May 1982 was witnessed by Prince Andrew who was airborne in his sea king at the time who commented later for the first 10 minutes after the Sheffield I think when one really didn’t know which way to turn or what to do.
I know where I was and I was very frightened then. Sheffield was the first Royal Navy vessel sunk in action since World W4r II with 20 de@d and up to 63 injured among her crew. The Sea King H5s of number 82 Naval Air Squadron performed many tasks from the Faulland’s w4r, including the aforementioned Exoet missile decoy, also including casualty evacuation, transport, anti ubmarine w4rfare duties, search and rescue, and so on.
And in 166 days at sea, the squadron chocked up 4,700 hours airborne, setting a world record for continuous carrier operations. Prince Andrew had a close shave during operations to rescue men from the cargo ship Atlantic Conveyor, which was carrying RAF and Royal Navy helicopters south to reinforce the task force when it was hit and destr0yed by two Argentine exet missiles on the 25th of May 1982.
The same day that the destr0yer HMS Coventry was sunk by b0mbs dropped by Argentine aircraft. Prince Andrew and his crew were airborne and witnessed the missile strikes and the huge explosions that flung debris up to a quarter of a mile from the wreck. A British 4.5 in sh3ll narrowly avoided striking Andrew’s Sea King helicopter in the cha0s and confusion of Argentine air @ttacks.
I remember looking out over my right side going, I’m not going to say anything about this, but I could see that coming tow4rds me because I don’t want to worry them. And I remember turning the aircraft thinking, I wonder if this is going to make any difference if I turn the aircraft. I remember turning the aircraft to the left and when I saw the the the the the glow of light coming tow4rds me, which I a.ssumed was was the heat.
Well, I don’t know. I just saw this sort of orange light coming tow4rds me. I suppose that um that was the one moment when I got my I’ve got my lifetime’s worth of adrenaline rush there and it gave me a white gave me gave me a nasty little white fleck in the side of the side of the of um which only when I cut my hair can you see it.
The only way I can describe it is that if you’ve perhaps made a rather more risky overtake in a car than you would sometimes wish and you get that sort of hot flush well double that add 10 and then do it again. That’s how hot and sweaty it became inside my um immersion suit at that particular moment. But having got away, that was the sort of feeling I had.
That was a sort of, you know, my god that was a bit risky. Andrew’s helicopter is listed as being the second helicopter in some sources to have arrived at the scene. The first being a Wessix, which was originally on board the ship and had flown away on another mission and returned immediately to help. Andrew and his crew began winching aboard surv1vors from the water.
All of this activity was going on as active Argentine air @ttacks continued and other vessels in the task force had already been hit or damaged. Andrew rescued many of the 139 surv1vors of the Atlantic conveyor with 10 of the crew perishing in the inferno. More action followed for Andrew and his crew during another horrific air @ttack on British ships, the disaster at Bluff Cove, where Argentine jets caught two British landing ships that were packed with members of the first battalion, the Welsh Guards.
On the 8th of June 1982, Argentine A4 Skyhawks hit the ships RFA Seagalahad and Sir Tristram. Sagalahad was struck by three 500 lb b0mbs. The explosions and fires k1lling 48 men, including 32 members of the Welsh guards, with dozens seriously burned or injured. Two b0mbs also hit the catristram, k1lling two sailors.
Andrew’s helicopter was one of those helping to rescue surv1vors from the Saggalahad as every available helicopter was immediately rushed to the site and either winchmen to safety or use the rotors downdraft to help push life rafts away from the burning and exploding ship. Andrew returned from the Falklands W4r as a very highprofile serviceman, lorded by the press for having done his duty and done it well under very difficult circumstances.
and he was aw4rded along with 35,000 others who served in the Falklands W4r, the South Atlantic Medal 1982. He remained in the Royal Navy until 2001 when he retired as a senior naval pilot with the rank of commander and was later given the honorary service rank of Vice Admiral in 2015.
However, he has retained his Faulland’s W4r campaign medal despite having all of his other titles and orders of chivalry and so on removed. His Faulland’s w4r service has never been criticized, and he is seen by veterans groups to have done his duty, and I would argue it was the high point of his life. He returned a 22 year old hero, then spent the next four decades on an ignaminious path to eventual complete disgrace and perhaps even pr1son time, bringing dishonor on the royal family and also the country that he served
honorably and some would say bravely during the Faulland’s w4r. Many thanks for watching. Please subscribe and share and also visit my audio book channel, W4r Stories with Mark Felton. You can also help to support both of my channels at PayPal and Patreon. Details in the descr.i.ption box below.
